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Truly Above and Beyond

Land Rover was ecstatic to help Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson unveil Virgin Galactic’s new SpaceShipTwo at a special reveal and naming ceremony at their Mojave Air and Space Port base in California!

A glorious Range Rover Autobiography took center stage at the global reveal, towing out the new SpaceShipTwo in front of the world’s media, special guests and a group of Virgin Galactic’s “Future Astronauts”.

Guests at the unveiling ceremony including Virgin Galactic’s stakeholders, VIP guests and Future Astronaut customers, watched on as Sir Richard arrived in the Range Rover and the new SpaceShipTwo made its global debut. The event also marked the special official naming moment of the new SpaceShipTwo, with Stephen Hawking announcing the name VSS Unity via a specially recorded message.

The tow-out of VSS Unity by a Range Rover Autobiography marks the latest milestone in the partnership between the two pioneering brands; a partnership based around a strong British heritage and a true spirit of adventure, but underpinned by a desire to push the boundaries of technical innovation.

A fleet of Land Rover vehicles currently provides valuable support for the Virgin Galactic team at its base in Mojave, and will be an important part of its commercial operations for future astronauts at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Stephen Attenborough, Commercial Director at Virgin Galactic said: “Since our partnership began in April 2014, Land Rover has become an integral part of the team’s day to day operating environment in Mojave. Therefore it was fitting that the Range Rover Autobiography took a starring role in today’s events as our new SpaceShipTwo, Unity, made its global debut. We’re looking forward to more collaboration across the business including STEM programs as well as engineering, design and product initiatives.”

Both Land Rover and Virgin Galactic run highly regarded community relations and STEM education programs, which encourage young people to aspire to a future in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.